Super-potent pot? Drug czar’s marijuana claims hazy

June 2nd, 2009 – Recent media stories about highly potent pot sweeping the nation
are based on fudged statistics from an incomplete report supplied by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), according to those who’ve viewed the full version of the report released recently. Recent media stories about highly potent pot sweeping the nation are based on fudged statistics from an incomplete report supplied by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), according to those who’ve viewed the full version of the report released recently.

The full version of the report blows smoke in the face of claims by the ONDCP that their testing showed median marijuana potency had surpassed the 10 percent THC-level for the first time ever. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana.

A statement by Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske initially claimed that the latest ODC analysis of marijuana samples showed “the average amount of THC in seized samples has reached a new high of 10.1 percent.”

But the full report shows that the 10-percent threshold is only crossed by adding hashish into the equation. On its own, average marijuana potency was 8.52 percent, while average potency of hashish was 20.76 percent.

The full report was obtained by the Marijuana Policy Project, which is produced by the Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi.

There is also debate over whether there is actually a problem with higher-potency marijuana, with advocates arguing that stronger pot means that users end up smoking less for the same effect, thus sparing their lungs.

On an intuitive level, this seems obvious. Consider alcohol. If potency were the main engine of alcohol addiction, then all the bums would be drinking Everclear or Bacardi 151. But why not?

As with many things, the more potent something is, the less people tend to use. Thus, with the exception of a few derelicts, regular people drink smaller portions of spirits than they do of beer or wine to get the same effect. That’s SMALLER AMOUNT, SAME EFFECT. Notice there’s no epidemic of Everclear abuse in places where it’s available as compared to where it’s not. We wouldn’t have less alcoholism with weak alcohol, just people who drank more. Same with pot. Stronger pot means less carcinogenic material is inhaled to get the desired effect. So, on it’s face the argument seems silly, even if pot is becoming more potent.

However, when the evidence says the opposite, the government does a disservice to itself and its citizens by trying to fuel anti-pot-hysteria with fudged statistics and incomplete data.
June 1, 7:54 PM · 7 comments
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Recent media stories about highly potent pot sweeping the nation
are based on fudged statistics from an incomplete report supplied
by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), according
to those who’ve viewed the full version of the report released recently.
Photo: CreativeCommons/Eric Caballero
Recent media stories about highly potent pot sweeping the nation are based on fudged statistics from an incomplete report supplied by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), according to those who’ve viewed the full version of the report released recently.

The full version of the report blows smoke in the face of claims by the ONDCP that their testing showed median marijuana potency had surpassed the 10 percent THC-level for the first time ever. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana.

A statement by Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske initially claimed that the latest ODC analysis of marijuana samples showed “the average amount of THC in seized samples has reached a new high of 10.1 percent.”

But the full report shows that the 10-percent threshold is only crossed by adding hashish into the equation. On its own, average marijuana potency was 8.52 percent, while average potency of hashish was 20.76 percent.

The full report was obtained by the Marijuana Policy Project, which is produced by the Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi.

There is also debate over whether there is actually a problem with higher-potency marijuana, with advocates arguing that stronger pot means that users end up smoking less for the same effect, thus sparing their lungs.

On an intuitive level, this seems obvious. Consider alcohol. If potency were the main engine of alcohol addiction, then all the bums would be drinking Everclear or Bacardi 151. But why not?

As with many things, the more potent something is, the less people tend to use. Thus, with the exception of a few derelicts, regular people drink smaller portions of spirits than they do of beer or wine to get the same effect. That’s SMALLER AMOUNT, SAME EFFECT. Notice there’s no epidemic of Everclear abuse in places where it’s available as compared to where it’s not. We wouldn’t have less alcoholism with weak alcohol, just people who drank more. Same with pot. Stronger pot means less carcinogenic material is inhaled to get the desired effect. So, on it’s face the argument seems silly, even if pot is becoming more potent.

However, when the evidence says the opposite, the government does a disservice to itself and its citizens by trying to fuel anti-pot-hysteria with fudged statistics and incomplete data. Source.